SERIES: The Paranormal DownUnder - Tracey O'Hara

In Australia, 2012 is the National Year of Reading. What better way to celebrate this than by finding a new-to-you author or revisiting a favorite one?

This series of blog posts, entitled The Paranormal DownUnder, aims to do just that!

Any of my regular readers know I'm passionate about introducing 'local' talent (aka authors from Australia & New Zealand). This time around I'm keen to feature those who write in this genre.

So, be prepared for a swag of authors & some blatant promotion of their books as they share their thoughts on the paranormal genre and why they find it so compelling.

Please welcome my next guest...Tracey O'Hara. 

Tracey's Bio: I was born in Australia - Launceston, Tasmania (Australia) to be precise, but actually grew up in North and Far North Queensland. My family is very supportive of my writing. They encourage me to keep writing and pursuing my dream.

I discovered a passion for writing in March 2004. It started after doing some research into my family history. A story came into my head, screaming to get out, about an Irish girl who works for an English captain as a governess/nanny for his children while their mother is very ill. Set in Australia in the early 1820s.

But as I started to plot the story, another one emerged, which was much stronger. It involved the sister of the girl in the first story, who gets raped on the voyage out to Australia and falls pregnant. I wrote 120k in about 4 months – the story flowed out like molasses on a hot day.

This was before I learnt anything about writing, and I followed every bad writing practice known, making every writing mistake. But everyone loved the story – even if it was badly written. So I figured that I am more a story teller than a writer – so now I must learn to write. Now I am writing Dark stories, Dark Urban Fantasy to be precise. 

What compels you to write in the paranormal genre?
I love the richness of world building that writing paranormal allows me.  I can put so much more into my stories.

My books have mystery, thriller, romance, contemporary fantasy and a little horror. It is so call to fit all that into a story. I can write dark, which I love. I can also write sexy.

My first book NIGHT'S COLD KISS was nominated for best Horror in the Aurealis Awards and the RWA Romantic Book of the Year (Romantic Elements category), that was the coolest thing ever. My second book made the long list of the Sister's in Crime Davitt Award which was also amazing. 

Is there something you'd like to write but have yet to attempt?
Science Fiction. I love it. I watch it and I read some of it. But I have yet to write it. Sometimes I just don't think I am smart enough to write sci-fi but I will give it a go someday. 

Who are auto-buys for you in this genre? What makes their books so appealing to you?
At the moment I am reading outside my own genre. Or should I say listening. I have discovered audiobooks and adore them. But I guess if I had to say it would have to be Keri Arthur because my mum is a huge fan and Keri tells a darn good story.

I would have said J.R.Ward but have found the last couple of books hard to get through. And of course there is the ever lovely Nalini Singh. Also there is a new writer on the scene - you may know her - Kylie Griffin. I haven't read her yet but her stories are really taking off.

Tracey's latest release from Harper Voyager:

SIN'S DARK CARESS
(released August 1st, 2012) 

An ancient darkness has risen from the ashes . . . and terror has been loosed upon an unsuspecting world.

 

Forensic witch Bianca Sin has never seen anything like it: homeless teenage girls torn to pieces by dark magic in the cold shadows of the city. More terrifying still is the symbol written in blood on an alley wall—the unmistakable seal of the Dark Brethren.

 

Teaming up with NYPD homicide detective Lancelot McManus and an elite task force headed by the shapeshifter Oberon DuPrie, Bianca knows her worst fears have finally come to pass. A new war of annihilation is looming that will plunge the worlds of vampire, shapeshifter, and human into chaos—and two adversarial tribes locked in uneasy truce will need to take up arms together to save the children. Trust will be essential for Sin and McManus, as the hunt forces them to confront their deepest terrors.

 

For the ultimate evil is no longer approaching. 

 

It's here. 

 

You can find out more about Tracey on her website!